A control device and a control program of a walking assisting device, wherein a desired assist ratio, which is a desired value of the ratio of a force to be supplied by a walking assisting device in a total tread force of a user relative to the total tread forces is set, the shares of a lifting force to be applied to the user from a seating part which are to be borne by the leg links are determined from the desire assist ratio and the tread forces of the legs of the user measured on the basis of outputs of force sensors, and actuators of the leg links are controlled such that the determined shares of the lifting force are generated from the leg links. Thus, a force required for the user to support himself/herself by his/her legs on a floor can be reduced while reducing the number of parts to be attached to each leg of the user, and an assisting force for achieving such reductions can be properly shared between the leg links corresponding to the legs of the user.

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Techniques are provided for controlling an exoskeleton actuator at a joint of a human-exoskeleton system by receiving system parameters for the human-exoskeleton system, receiving generalized coordinates for the human-exoskeleton system, and determining an equivalent joint torque for the exoskeleton actuator to compensate for a selected force. While providing partial or complete compensation of selected gravitational and external forces, one embodiment of the present invention mitigates the amount of interference between voluntary control and assist control, thereby allowing humans to quickly humans adapt to an exoskeleton system.

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Healthy individuals modulate muscle activation patterns according to their intended movement and external environment. Persons with neurological disorders (e.g., stroke and spinal cord injury), however, have problems in movement control due primarily to their inability to modulate their muscle activation pattern in an appropriate manner. A functionality test at the level of individual muscles that investigates the activity of a muscle of interest on various motor tasks may enable muscle-level force grading. To date there is no extant work that focuses on the application of exoskeleton robots to induce specific muscle activation in a systematic manner. This paper proposes a new method, named “individual muscle-force control” using a wearable robot (an exoskeletonrobot, or a power-assisting device) to obtain a wider variety of muscle activity data than standard motor tasks, e.g., pushing a handle by hand. A computational algorithm systematically computes control commands to a wearable robot so that a desired muscle activation pattern for target muscle forces is induced. It also computes an adequate amount and direction of a force that a subject needs to exert against a handle by his/her hand. This individual muscle control method enables users (e.g., therapists) to efficiently conduct neuromuscular function tests on target muscles by arbitrarily inducing muscle activation patterns. This paper presents a basic concept, mathematical formulation, and solution of the individual muscle-force control and its implementation to a muscle control system with an exoskeleton-type robot for upper extremity. Simulation and experimental results in healthy individuals justify the use of an exoskeleton robot for future muscle function testing in terms of the variety of muscle activity data.

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В ходе совместной реализации проекта DARPA и Лаборатория прикладной физики им. Д. Хопкинса (Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, APL) подготовили к началу тестирования с участием людей очередное поколение протеза руки, названное Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL).

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This paper describes a robotic-arm exoskeleton that uses a parallel mechanism inspired by the human forearm to allow naturalistic shoulder movements. The mechanism can produce large forces through a substantial portion of the range of motion (RoM) of the human arm while remaining lightweight. This paper describes the optimization of the exoskeleton’s torque capabilities by the modification of the key geometric design parameters.

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